Enchanted
by Her Pretty Smile
Summary: —If only we can never get out of this dream. Then I'll have the chance to say just what I want to say. —IchiRuki&HitsuHina—
1. Prologue

**Enchanted**  
by Her Pretty Smile

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**Synopsis:** A mysterious aroma floods Seireitei and Karakura Town in the middle of the night, but it only affects at least vice-captain-level shinigamis who are awake. It's just four certain people's luck that they have their eyes open at that time. IchiRuki, HitsuHina.

**Warning:** Unbeta-ed; may contain mistakes or any of the sort. MANGA SPOILERS alert. (Don't worry, not really the recent ones.)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach. Kubo Tite owns it.

**Authoress' Note:** I've read a question in a site which is: "If you ship IchiRuki, then you also ship HitsuKarin?" And then I was like: "Oh no, no, no, you did NOT just say that." So, with the fire of determination burning inside me, I wrote this fic. I will not stand for that. IchiRuki and HitsuHina BOTH rock. :P

**Important Note:** This is set after the anime.

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**Enchanted**

**—**

"_Can I stay here forever?_"

—

**Prologue**

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Part One  
_Ichigo_

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THERE WAS A GREAT storm tonight in Karakura Town.

The rain poured down the streets angrily along with a roaring thunder in the skies. Most of the people were fast asleep, the rest working up to the early hours in the morning.

Ichigo, however, was wide awake. It was the night after he had regained back his powers, and because he'd dozed off most of the day, he couldn't sleep again.

Not in this storm, anyway.

For a moment, he wondered about Rukia. Byakuya must have laid off of his overprotectiveness on her a bit after the war so that she could become a vice-captain, the very position she deserved a long time ago.

Then he thought about Renji and the others. Were they doing well? Had they gotten a lot stronger than he thought they were?

Ichigo sighed. Thinking wasn't going to help. He needed to sleep.

He was about to lie back down on his bed when he suddenly smelled something strong and dark.

It still lingered in his senses even when his eyes slowly closed.

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Part Two  
_Rukia_

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IT WAS A PEACEFUL night in Seireitei; the moon shone brightly in the sky along with the twinkling, sparkling stars.

There wasn't even a single cloud in sight.

Rukia walked around aimlessly, having found herself unable to sleep due to the excitement that was occurring. Apparently, the news of Ichigo's return to being the _Substitute Shinigami_ spread around like wildfire.

It was no question that he was famous. He defeated Aizen and saved the world. He helped greatly in the Winter War, and the great contributions he made to Soul Society did not go unnoticed.

He was a hero now.

She smiled. _I'm proud of you, Ichigo._

However, while basking in the comfortable silence of her surroundings, she suddenly smelled something.

_What is this...?_

She started to feel drowsy.

_It smells like..._

Her eyes slowly closed in fatigue.

_...ice._

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Part Three  
_Toushirou_

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IT WAS GOING TO be another one of those sleepless nights where one had to take care of the rest of the paperwork.

Toushirou sighed. He was going to yell at his vice-captain for slacking off on her work again and making him, her _captain_, finish it for the _nth_ time.

"Darn that Matsumoto..." he muttered. "She didn't do even a _single _one."

As he was about to reach for a pen, though, a strong, distinctive aroma wafted through his nostrils.

_What the..._ he thought as sleep started to overwhelm him. _I... can't doze off yet..._

_Wait... Why can I smell... _ice_...?_

Within seconds, his head fell on his desk.

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Part Four  
_Momo_

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HER CAPTAIN HAD TOLD her to rest tonight, but she couldn't bring herself to. She had seen the mountain of paperwork on Shinji's desk and she couldn't just let it be.

So she snuck out of bed and finished more than a half of them.

Afterwards, she went towards her quarters.

_I'm glad that's settled..._ she thought, satisfied. _Now Hirako-taichou won't have any problems finishing the rest in the morning._

But then before she could close her eyes, a familiar scent invaded her room.

_Eh?_

_Plums...?_

She couldn't dwell on it further. She felt so tired suddenly.

She slept.

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**A/N:** The prologue isn't as interesting as chapter one, I think. :)


	2. Chapter One, Part One

_Posted on June 7, 2014, Saturday, 7:00 PM_  
_Philippines Date and Time_

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**Authoress' Note:** I did not expect to get 6 reviews for the prologue... O.O

Thank you! :)

Vegetable lov3r, I think you've gotten there a bit. ;) But I won't spoil anything.

Now let's get on to chapter one, part one. :)

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**Enchanted**

—

"Is it okay to start being attached?"

—

**Chapter One**

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Part One

_The Beginnings of Confusion_

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ICHIGO OPENED HIS EYES and saw light.

He instantly sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. _What was that smell last night...?_ he wondered. _It felt like_—

"IIIIICHIIGOOOOOOOOOO!"

Very, very calmly, the latter moved his body to the side, causing the figure who came from the open window to crash headfirst on the floor in front of him.

"_O_—_Ow_... Y—You're doing... so good, my son..." Isshin managed to say with a hint of pride in his voice.

Ichigo scowled at him and got up from his bed.

_Maybe last night was just my imagination..._

"Oi, Ichi-nii, otou-san," Karin called out behind his door. "Breakfast is ready."

Isshin's face lit up. "I can't wait to taste my two favourite girls' cooking!" he exclaimed, making his way out of the room.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Karin helped cook?" he wondered aloud.

_I'm a little hungry now... I should check it out._

He made his way downstairs. "Oi, oyaji, I have something to ask—"

"Ah, Ichigo-chan, you're awake," a sweet, familiar voice greeted. "Come to the table and eat."

Ichigo's eyes widened in disbelief. _What the hell_—

"Onii-chan?" Yuzu said in concern.

He couldn't move. He could even barely breathe.

He was completely rigid.

"..._Okaa-san_...?"

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-;-

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RUKIA WOKE UP AND saw the bright sky from her open window.

She blinked. _That's odd... This isn't my room._

With haste, she got out of bed and went out the door.

She then found a stair leading downstairs. _I'm on the second floor... I don't recall nii-sama's house having one..._

_Where am I?_

Warily, she took a step down. Then another. And then another.

"Rukia," the familiar, monotonous voice of her brother said, "what are you doing?"

Rukia immediately straightened up and ran towards the first floor. "I—I apologize, nii-sama! It's just that—"

She never got to finish her sentence when she saw who occupied the living room other than Byakuya.

"_Hisana_... _nee-san_...?"

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-;-

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"WAKE UP..." A SOFT, gentle voice coaxed. "Wake up, Toushirou..."

Said boy slowly opened his eyes, flinching slightly as the rays of the sun hit his vision.

"What is—_Obaa-san_...?!" The Tenth Division Captain instantly sat up, eyes wide at the sight of his grandmother hovering over him. "Wha—What are you doing here?"

She gave him a tender smile. "What are you talking about, Toushirou?" She inclined her head towards the side where a wall was placed. "It's five-thirty in the morning, and Momo still hasn't woken up. Do you mind waking her? I have to prepare breakfast so that you two can go to school afterwards."

Before Toushirou could ask questions out of confusion, his grandmother had already left the room.

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-;-

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THE SUNLIGHT SEEPING IN from the window caused Momo to open her eyes groggily.

_What is this... foreign-looking place...?_

"Good. You're awake."

Jolting up, she turned towards the direction of the familiar voice.

"Hitsugaya-kun?!"

Toushirou gave her a narrow look. "It's Hitsugaya-_taichou_ to you," he reprimanded, though judging from the tone of his voice, he wasn't even the least bit serious.

It even sounded weak.

She noticed this and asked, "Is something wrong, Hitsugaya-kun?"

He looked at her with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. "Hinamori..." he said slowly, "...I... can't feel Hyourinmaru anymore."

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**A/N:** This is only part one of chapter one; this is the reason why it's so short. But this I promise you: part two will be considerably longer.


End file.
